Last October, the New York Times published a piece on its website comparing personal and digital concierge services. The piece made the case for using a digital concierge for certain kinds of tasks, but it also made the case that there is something more personal about a personal concierge service. Personal service is something you just cannot get from a smartphone app.
My Divine Concierge is advertised as a personal concierge service. By that we mean our customers receive personal service, face-to-face and one-on-one. You do not order our services over your smartphone and then interact with us only through the app or e-mail. We show up at your house. We meet with you to discuss the jobs you need done. We do the work in person and on your schedule.
The Differences between Personal and Digital
You may be confused about the differences between personal and digital concierge services. The explanation below should be clear enough if you already use a smartphone for things like ride-sharing and making appointments at your doctor’s office.
A personal concierge is one who interacts directly with customers in a variety of forms. For example, you might contact My Divine Concierge via phone or e-mail. You might fill out an online form so that we can call you. Either way, you will ultimately deal directly with a staff member.
Our concierge professionals are real people with names and faces. They are not nameless images on your smartphone. As such, they can offer you personal services that cater entirely to your needs.
A digital concierge is one you interact with primarily through a smartphone app or website. You never meet the concierge face-to-face; he or she never visits your home or office; the list of services provided is limited only to those services that can be completed online.
Advantages of Personal Concierge
Hopefully our basic description of the two kinds of concierge services makes it clear why working with a personal service like ours is so advantageous. At the top the list of advantages is the fact that the services of a personal concierge are nearly limited, within reason. You are not limited only to booking travel or making dining reservations.
My Divine Concierge offers a full menu of hands-on services, including:
- downsizing, packing, and moving
- hoarding resolution
- home cleanup and organization
- office cleanup and organization
- custom-designed storage solutions
- errand running.
This short list doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface of what we are capable of. Simply put, a personal concierge can do so much more because he or she comes to assist you in person. But there are even more advantages.
We Get to Know You
A personal concierge will get to know you personally. That is what we do at My Divine Concierge. We make a point of developing solid relationships with our customers. We get to know their names, their family members’ names, their likes and dislikes, the typical jobs they need us to do, etc.
We Are More Flexible
A digital concierge service is rather rigid about the services they offer. They have to be. A personal concierge service is just the opposite. We have the flexibility to handle all sorts of things that might come up during the course of a job. For example, you might hire us to help clean your garage and organize the basement only to discover later that you need some things transported to offsite storage. We can handle it.
We Provide Personal Comfort
Perhaps the biggest advantage of a personal concierge is the comfort that comes with using such a service. Consider an older couple needing to downsize. Having to sort through belongings and pack the house can be an emotionally trying experience. Because our staff is there to assist in-person, we are also a source of personal comfort at a very difficult time. We are there to ease the burden that comes with downsizing.
Digital concierge services are helpful to a certain extent. They can be convenient and available last-minute, which is definitely one advantage they have over their personal concierge counterparts. But in the long run, a personal service is a better service. There is just something more personal about it.